He stayed at Colegio Filipino in Rome and worked as a telephone operator to pay his board. He slept at bus and train stations. He visited churches and cathedrals across Western Europe, and subsisted on $10 a day: two baguettes, cheese, a pound of apples, and ref illed two soft drink bottles with water. He went to Jerusalem, and the U.S., to be reunited with his sisters. He traced the Junipero Serra’s route, documenting the California mission churches, and got to San Antonio, Texas.
He met two Peace Corps folks, Jim McMullen and Ed White, who got him involved in the paper, “Samarenian.” His Peace Corps friends lived in a guest room at the governor’s mansion, where he got to read a lot in their library. He was sent to the national editors’ guild conference twice, and a path opened up for him. Christ the King College sent him to an oratorical contest. He recited the “Nine Leaves of Summer,” a young man lost, because of family, but now picking up the pieces where the summer leaves were falling.” John Schumacher, who conducted the national exams, personally requested him to take it, which enabled him to land the #7 spot for a scholarship to San Jose Major Seminary/Ateneo de Manila University. During his first year, he took Latin, Philosophy and English. He finished Pre-Divinity Studies, minor in education and mass communication, while also teaching at Maryknoll high school. But, he doubted that his passions could be tamed inside the seminary. So, he lived among the poor, where he worked from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m., carrying bales of fish at the Navotas fishport. He took turns sleeping with other workers in a closet-sized room. He formed a community theater, teaching them church songs. He produced passion plays, including designing the stage props and costumes. After a few months, he chose to go back to the seminary. He went to the monastery, but the abbot deemed him “too gifted for the monastery.” HE WAS ORDAINED ON JUNE 12, 1981 A turning point came when Pope John Paul II organized an international retreat for 5,000 priests in 1989. Fr. Pacanza was “chosen” as one of the 500 priests from the Philippines, the only priest to go to Rome, from his diocese. His bishop declined permission for him to leave. But, he acted as if he was going to. He got his travel papers and while at the embassy, he met the priest organizing the retreat, who encouraged him to go. Fr. Pacanza persuaded his bishop and he was granted permission. He raised $1,000 by helping friends to design furniture and mausoleums. In 1989, his dream came true. With just a backpack, he travelled to Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Amsterdam, Israel and even witnessed the turning down of the Berlin Wall. Mind you, his dream to see the 7-hour Oberammaergau Passion Play was nurtured for three decades. But, he could not get the tickets to this play. As divine providence would have it, he went to a store. It was closed, but the owner noticed him. He was one of the performing actors in the passion play. Unbeknowst to Fr. Pacanza, the owner
called the ticket issuer and instructed him to go back to the ticket stand. He got his ticket, saw the play and was overfilled with joy. According to its website, the Oberammergauers swore an oath that they would perform the “Play of the Suffering, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ” every ten years, after months of suffering and death from the plague. They fulfilled this pledge for the first time during Pentecost 1634, and have preserved it for centuries. He stayed at Colegio Filipino in Rome and worked as a telephone operator to pay his board. He slept at bus and train stations. He visited churches and cathedrals across Western Europe, and subsisted on $10 a day: two baguettes, cheese, a pound of apples, and refilled two soft drink bottles with water. He went to Jerusalem, and the U.S., to be reunited with his sisters. He traced the Junipero Serra’s route, documenting the California mission churches, and got to San Antonio, Texas. To the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church’s (IHMC) choir members, Fr. Pacanza is a priest of many talents, including a man of the arts. His homily at IHMC spoke of his vows and his optimism: ”Out of obedience, I came [to Hollywood]. I am now on a rebirth, growing old is [really] growing young in reverse. Mahilig tayong maglagay ng patapos: Ayoko na. Hanggang dito lang ako. (This is it. I don’t want to move. This is the endpoint.) Yet, there are only beginnings with God. Fr. Rodel [Balagtas] opened up a new awareness for me, though I suffered, wishing I could have been a journalist, an architect, even an actor, I was really destined to be a priest. What will it offer me, I asked? It is not about gifts, not about what I want, but about what God wants me to do. America is now my new home, where friendships blossom and Sacredness settles in.“ Last June 2016, he celebrated his 35th year as a priest where over 150 folks gathered at St. Lucy’s Hall to speak about his goodness in his ministries to them. He is currently on a sabbatical, on discernment: “It is not an easy life to be in ministry, you encounter betrayals and challenges. You stay afloat by absorbing it, by praying, by thinking, being quiet, by containing the trials in your heart. My personal life cannot jeopardize my ministry. How can you be God’s grace when God’s grace is ex-operato? But, also how can I be a conduit of God’s grace, when I myself is not in a state of grace? So [I] forgive and [I need to] be forgiving, until there is nothing left but humor in recalling what happened. Whoever you are, God will use you. Sacraments are effective, regardless of the status of the priests. Offering of God’s grace is not hampered by the status of priests. I have done my best, and allowed Him to do the rest. My priesthood is God’s gift to me. There is not a greater title than that,” and in March 2017, he leads a group to visit the Marian sites in France and Spain. ISSUE 54 — 093